On Wednesday the DAX gained markedly, closing at 25,278 points at Xetra’s market close – a 1.1 % increase from the previous day’s close. Andreas Lipkow, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, explained that market participants faced a flood of trading impulses by mid‑week. Poor quarterly results from Dutch chemical group IMCD knocked the entire European chemical sector into negative territory, hitting BASF and Brenntag shares in particular. Conversely, strong U.S. quarterly figures from technology firm Analog Devices lifted the prices of its European rivals, Infineon and STMicroelectronics.
Lipkow added that the picture was completed by better‑than‑expected durable‑goods firm orders and U.S. real‑estate data. Both sets of numbers provided a modest boost to rate‑cut speculation, yet the overall economic picture in the United States remains uncertain.
Near the market’s close, shares of Rheinmetall, Heidelberg Materials, and Siemens topped the Frankfurt list, while Brenntag and Bayer lagged at the bottom.
Meanwhile, gas prices rose: one megawatt‑hour (MWh) of gas for March delivery cost €31, a 5 % increase from the previous day. At that level, a consumer would pay roughly eight to ten cents per kilowatt‑hour (kWh), including ancillary costs and taxes, if the price level stayed steady.
Oil performed strongly for its circumstances: a barrel of North Sea Brent traded at $69.50 in the afternoon, up 3.1 % from the previous day’s close.
The euro weakened mid‑week: one euro was worth $1.1812, equivalent to €0.8466 for each dollar.
